Canada Government & Governance June 2026-

1 June
Carney picks Montreal MP Miller to chair antisemitism council
The crisis of antisemitism in Canada is “specific, it’s severe, and it demands a targeted response,” the prime minister says.
Prime Minister Mark Carney launched a council to combat antisemitism in Canada, to be chaired by Montreal MP Marc Miller.
Speaking from Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto on Monday evening, Carney asserted the crisis of antisemitism in Canada is “specific, it’s severe, and it demands a targeted response.”
Across Canada — including Montreal — synagogues have been firebombed, Jewish schools hit with bullets, and Jewish community centres attacked since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
In his speech, Carney announced several new measures to combat antisemitism, including Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act. He also announced Canada’s new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion, to be chaired by Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Marc Miller, who serves as MP for Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs.
Mandate of the council
The prime minister directs that the first responsibility of the council is to address antisemitism from four directions: the council will first assess the nature, the scale, and the drivers of antisemitism in Canada, including across public institutions, workplaces, campuses, public services, professional bodies, and online spaces.

25 July
Davos on the dock
Inside the private Muskoka conference that lures Canada’s movers and shakers – including Mark Carney
(Globe & Mail) …an annual conference that brings together chief executives, wealthy entrepreneurs, top politicians, world-renowned scientists and venture capitalists. They call it The Dock.
Since 2015, the high-powered but private conference has become a gathering place for prominent Canadians to solve ​the world’s problems – or at least this country’s issues. Its agenda often has a technology focus, and the annual confab has produced some real results.
In its early days, conference guests helped craft the first iteration of Canada’s artificial intelligence strategy. Last year, attendees pitched an Invest Canada Forum that could bring together the world’s largest money managers and show off what Canada has to offer. A similar style of event is being held in September. …
This year, The Dock took on extra meaning. The pace of change in technologies such as AI and quantum computing has hit warp speed; the political relationship between Canada and the United States has ruptured; and U.S. President Donald Trump is revamping his global tariff strategy. Three days after the conference ended, the U.S. hit Canada with 50 per cent tariffs on a slew of goods, upending the North American free trade agreement that is currently being renegotiated.

12 July
Carney to shuffle top staff after deputy chief leaves to seek Liberal nomination
A staff shuffle is under way in the highest ranks of the Prime Minister’s Office after Mark Carney appointed his chief strategist to the Senate and a key staffer decided to step down.
Braeden Caley, one of Mr. Carney’s deputy chiefs of staff…has left the PMO to consider running for the Liberal nomination in the riding of North Vancouver–Capilano, which was left vacant by the prior Liberal MP’s appointment to a diplomatic post.
His formal departure follows Mr. Carney’s decision to appoint Tom Pitfield, his principal secretary, as one of four new senators named last week.
The twin vacancies allow for a rejig of the PMO as the Carney Liberals move into their second full year in government, facing mounting pressure to deliver on major promises, including securing a new trade deal with the United States and ramping up natural resources’ development.
The two most powerful people by Mr. Carney’s side – chief of staff Marc-André Blanchard and Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Sabia – are playing key roles in both those files and remain in their jobs.
The third-closest to the Prime Minister, until last week, was Mr. Pitfield as principal secretary, a role that focuses on political strategy.
The choice of who will replace Mr. Pitfield is not confirmed. The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on that or any other staffing changes.
But three sources told The Globe that the changes include the elevation of Tim Krupa, formerly Mr. Carney’s director of policy, to the position of deputy chief of staff and chief economist. Mr. Krupa is known as one of Mr. Carney’s closest advisers. He also worked in policy for the Trudeau Liberals and at the investment firm Goldman Sachs [where] Mr. Carney held various positions…for more than 15 years prior to entering public life.
Mr. Krupa is being replaced as director of policy by Shaili Patel, who is currently the deputy director.
The sources said Jennifer MacIntyre will also become a deputy chief of staff, with a focus on international affairs. She was most recently an assistant deputy minister for international affairs and crisis response at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

26 June
Carney kicks off competition to renovate 24 Sussex Dr.
(Globe & Mail) Prime Minister Mark Carney has launched a competition to pick a Canadian company to renovate 24 Sussex Dr., the official residence of the prime minister, which has been shuttered since 2015 because of its physical decline. But during a news conference Friday at the front door of the residence, Mr. Carney declined to get into specifics about the budget of the enterprise, saying the cost will hinge on the ideas advanced to upgrade the property.
The winning company will have to deal with the design of the renovation and also see through the execution.
Mr. Carney said the plan is for the Rideau Hall Foundation, a non-partisan national charitable organization established to amplify the work of the Office of the Governor-General, to raise money for the project.
The Prime Minister said the foundation will not accept corporate donations but will allow donations from individuals and philanthropic organizations. There will be a limit on donations, and the names of donors will be made public.
Asked how the fundraising process can be protected from outside influence, Mr. Carney said the Rideau Hall Foundation will solicit and collect donations but have no influence on the decision of the jury chaired by noted Canadian architect Moshe Safdie.
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada will set out the specifications of the competition, and the winner will be announced by Canada Day of 2027.
Mr. Safdie, whose buildings have included Habitat 67 at Expo 67 in Montreal as well as the Vancouver Library Square, was asked about his thoughts on the property.“It’s an extraordinary site,” Mr. Safdie told journalists after Mr. Carney’s remarks. “It’s a site with extraordinary potential.

24 June
Canada Initiates Process to List Major Projects under the Building Canada Act
(Gov. of Canada) The world is changing rapidly. In response, a confident Canada is choosing to build. Canada’s government is building major projects – new ports, mines, highways, and energy infrastructure – that will transform our economy and unlock billions of dollars in new investment for Canadian workers and businesses. Key to those efforts is the Major Projects Office (MPO) and the Building Canada Act (the Act), which are helping streamline federal approval and financing processes to get major projects built faster, while respecting Indigenous rights and safeguarding the environment.
The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources; the Honourable Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons; and the Honourable Rebecca Alty, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced…that the government is initiating the process toward potential listing of three major projects – the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project, the Grays Bay Road and Port Project, and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO)’s Deep Geological Repository (DGR) – as projects of national interest under the Act. …
The support of Indigenous communities for these projects is critical. To determine if these projects are of national interest and should be listed under the Act, consultations will be held with impacted Indigenous rights holders and communities, provinces and territories. Consultations for each project will begin over the coming weeks, with the aim of supporting a listing decision by the Government in relation to the projects in fall 2026

22 June
Minister Miller launches the 2026 Cross-Canada Consultations on Official Languages
(National Post | ) The federal government has launched the 2026 Cross-Canada Consultations on Official Languages to help shape its next strategy for promoting English and French across the country. Marc Miller is inviting Canadians, organizations and official language minority communities to participate in consultations running from June to November 2026 through questionnaires, written submissions, virtual discussions and in-person stakeholder sessions. The feedback will help guide the next federal action plan, which aims to advance the equality of both official languages, support minority-language communities and strengthen the protection and promotion of French and English in Canada. The consultations build on the federal government’s current 2023-2028 Action Plan for Official Languages, which includes more than $4.1 billion in funding over five years.

7 June
Carney appoints one of his top advisers and a Conservative MP to Senate
Prime minister ends Trudeau-era policy of nonpartisan appointments
(Globe & Mail) Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first Senate appointments include one of his most senior advisers and a Conservative MP as he pushes to restore some partisan voices to an upper house that has been largely devoid of them for the last decade.
The move is already sending shockwaves through the Senate chamber as Carney signals he’s taking a step back from former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s decade-long experiment of stacking the Red Chamber with almost exclusively nonpartisan figures.
Tom Pitfield, who served on Carney’s 2025 campaign team and then became a principal secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, is one of the new appointees. …
A senior government official, speaking to CBC News on background, said this round of appointments is about restoring “balance” to a chamber that is right now largely composed of people from non-political backgrounds.
The prime minister will appoint more partisans to the chamber moving forward but there will still be some picks who are free from party affiliations, the official said.
One of the goals of appointing more experienced political hands is to speed up how quickly some legislation clears the upper house — some bills have been bogged down by months of discussion — and put a renewed focus on Liberal priorities as opposed to private member’s legislation. …

6 June
As Carney faces pressure to deliver, some Liberal MPs question his leadership style
With Mr. Carney heading into his second year as Liberal Leader and Prime Minister, The Globe and Mail spoke with 12 MPs about what their relationship is like with him as both sides adjust to a new political reality.
The Globe is not identifying the MPs so they could speak freely on caucus discussions. The meetings, where MPs brief the Prime Minister and cabinet on issues in their ridings or ask questions about policy, and where Mr. Carney briefs them in on the government’s plans, are supposed to be confidential.
Their notable decision to speak out, albeit on background, follows other signs of unrest, including internal dissent over the government’s climate policy and Steven Guilbeault’s resulting resignation.
Mr. Carney is … a political novice in that, unlike any other prime minister in recent history, he vaulted into the role without ever serving as an MP.

5 June
Alberta and Quebec should unite to fix Canada, not break it
The two provinces may have more in common than one might think.
… Both provinces frequently find themselves at odds with Ottawa over the federal government’s respect for their autonomy within their constitutional areas of jurisdiction. Both view the federal government as a disconnected and distant — if not outright foreign — force seeking to centralize power and undermine their economic and cultural interests. That shared frustration runs deep.
So deep, in fact, that according to a recent poll, more than one in three Albertans say they would consider supporting their province’s secession from Canada — roughly the same proportion as those who support Quebec sovereignty.
That’s far from a marginal sentiment that can be easily swept under the carpet.
It’s precisely why Alberta Premier Danielle Smith travelled to Quebec this week. She came seeking allies to push for changes she believes are necessary to strengthen — not sever — Canadian unity.